Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
Maurice Nicloux award winner 2023
Profile
Tamara Basta-Le Berre began her scientific career in 2000 with a PhD at the University of Stuttgart in Germany at the Institute of Microbiology. During her PhD, she focused on the molecular mechanisms that enable certain soil bacteria to degrade human-made pollutants. She discovered that conjugative plasmids play a significant role in this process.
The end of her PhD coincided with the discovery of new viruses infecting Archaea—microorganisms that morphologically resemble bacteria but are phylogenetically closer to eukaryotes. These new viruses bear no resemblance to any known bacterial or eukaryotic viruses, and their genomes largely consist of genes with unknown functions.
Intrigued by these extraordinary viruses, Tamara decided to join Patrick Forterre and David Prangishvili’s team at the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 2004 to study the replication of archaeal viruses. This research led her to identify a unique phenomenon of exclusion between a virus and a plasmid in an archaeon, as well as an original mechanism for the replication of linear viral DNA.
Following her first postdoctoral position, Tamara joined the Laboratoire d’Optique et Biosciences at École Polytechnique in 2008, working with Hannu Myllykallio’s team on the discovery of new antibacterial agents targeting DNA metabolism. Using biochemical approaches, she elucidated the mechanism of action of a candidate molecule and contributed to defining the active principle, which was the subject of a patent.
In 2010, Tamara was appointed as a lecturer at Université Paris-Sud. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in nucleic acid metabolism and their evolution in Archaea. Tamara is particularly interested in the synthesis pathway of a key tRNA modification, known as t6A, which is conserved in Archaea and Eukaryotes. Her work has highlighted the role of the proteins involved and helped establish a link between the onset of a rare genetic disease and mutations in the genes of the t6A synthesis pathway.
In recent years, Tamara has directed her research toward studying the regulation of DNA topology in Archaea and the role of topoisomerase enzymes in this process. The initial results from this work suggest the existence of original mechanisms in Archaea for responding to topological stress.
The latest winners
Léa Prochasson and Makram Mghezzi-Habellah
Curie Institute and Sorbonne University, Paris
Maëliss Germain
Rennes University, BRM Lab. (Bacterial RNAs in Medicine)
Olga Kolosova
IGBMC, Strasbourg
Mélisse Hamidi
Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, Lyon
Zhao Jiangfeng
EMBL, Grenoble
Robine Maffo Woulefack
Sciences and Technologies Faculty,Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy
Alexia Godet
Université d’Aarthus, Danemark
Veronica Nuccetteli et Makram Mghezzi
Biology et Cell Modelisation Lab., ENS, Lyon and IBCP, Lyon
Akandé Eyitayo
IBGC, CNRS, Bordeaux University
Markel Martinez-Carranza
Pasteur Institute, Paris
Nour Ayoub
Institut Pasteur Paris, UPCité and INSERM UMRS-1124, Paris
Léa Prochasson and Makram Mghezzi-Habellah
Curie Institute and Sorbonne University, Paris
“Article of the month”award December 2025
Maëliss Germain
Rennes University, BRM Lab. (Bacterial RNAs in Medicine)
“Article of the Month” November 2025
Olga Kolosova
IGBMC, Strasbourg
“Article of the Month” award October 2025
Mélisse Hamidi
Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, Lyon
“Article of the Month” award September 2025
Zhao Jiangfeng
EMBL, Grenoble
“Article of the Month” award July and August 2025
Robine Maffo Woulefack
Sciences and Technologies Faculty,Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy
“Article of the Month” award June 2025
Alexia Godet
Université d’Aarthus, Danemark
“Article of the month” May 2025
Veronica Nuccetteli et Makram Mghezzi
Biology et Cell Modelisation Lab., ENS, Lyon and IBCP, Lyon
“Article of the Month” award April 2025
Akandé Eyitayo
IBGC, CNRS, Bordeaux University
“Article of the month” March 2025
Markel Martinez-Carranza
Pasteur Institute, Paris
“Article of the Month” award February 2025
“Article of the Year” award 2025
Nour Ayoub
Institut Pasteur Paris, UPCité and INSERM UMRS-1124, Paris
“Article of the Month” award January 2025
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Enzymatic and Cellular Engineering
Aria Gheeraeart
INSERM, Paris
Pauline Herviou
Institut Beatson, Glasgow
Charbel Alfeghali
Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Physiopathologie Articulaire (IMoPA), Nancy
Yoann Santin
Institut de Duve, Bruxelles
Florent Waltz
Université de Strasbourg
Juliette Fédry
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Clément Charenton
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau
Thomas Eychenne
CEA, Saclay
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Enzymatic and Cellular Engineering
Dina Surdin award 2025
Aria Gheeraeart
INSERM, Paris
Dina Surdin award 2024
Pauline Herviou
Institut Beatson, Glasgow
Dina Surdin award 2023
Charbel Alfeghali
Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Physiopathologie Articulaire (IMoPA), Nancy
Dina Surdin award 2022
Yoann Santin
Institut de Duve, Bruxelles
Dina Surdin award 2021
Florent Waltz
Université de Strasbourg
Dina Surdin award 2020
Juliette Fédry
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Dina Surdin award 2019
Clément Charenton
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau
Dina Surdin award 2018
Thomas Eychenne
CEA, Saclay
Dina Surdin award 2017
Apply for the Dina Surdin Award
Applications must be submitted in March. The exact deadline is announced each year by email.
Documents to be submitted:
Downloadable application guidelines document below, a copy of the thesis manuscript.
Pascale Romby
CNRS, UPR 9002, ARN “RNA Architecture and Reactivity”, IBMC, Strasbourg
Pascale Lesage
CNRS et équipe de Biologie de l’instabilité des génomes, Paris
Carine Tisné
IBPC, Paris
Pascale Romby
CNRS, UPR 9002, ARN “RNA Architecture and Reactivity”, IBMC, Strasbourg
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2025
Pascale Lesage
CNRS et équipe de Biologie de l’instabilité des génomes, Paris
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2024
Carine Tisné
IBPC, Paris
Marianne Grunberg-Manago award 2023
Apply for the Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
Applications must be submitted by email to martin.picard@ibpc.fr. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
Inserm, IPMC, Sophia-Antipolis
Maxime Wery
Institut Curie, Paris
Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
CNRS, UMR9198, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette
Ludovic Pelosi
Laboratoire UGA (Groupe Quinones Respiratoires), Grenoble
Cyril Bourgeois
ENS, Lyon
Célia Plisson-Chastang
CNRS, UMR 5099, Toulouse
Odil Porrua
CNRS, UMR7592 (Institut Jacques Monod), Paris
Hervé Seitz
CNRS, UMR 9002 (Institut de génétique humaine), Montpellier
Michaël Ryckelynck
Biologie Digitale de l’ARN, UPR 9002, Architecture et réactivité de l’ARN, IBMC, Strasbourg.
Martin PICARD
CNRS UMR 7099, Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-chimique des protéines membranaires, IBPC
Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
Inserm, IPMC, Sophia-Antipolis
Maurice Nicloux Award 2025
Maxime Wery
Institut Curie, Paris
Maurice Nicloux award 2024
Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
CNRS, UMR9198, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette
Maurice Nicloux award 2023
Ludovic Pelosi
Laboratoire UGA (Groupe Quinones Respiratoires), Grenoble
Maurice Nicloux award 2022
Cyril Bourgeois
ENS, Lyon
Maurice Nicloux award 2021
Célia Plisson-Chastang
CNRS, UMR 5099, Toulouse
Maurice Nicloux award 2020
Odil Porrua
CNRS, UMR7592 (Institut Jacques Monod), Paris
Maurice Nicloux award 2019
Hervé Seitz
CNRS, UMR 9002 (Institut de génétique humaine), Montpellier
Maurice Nicloux award 2018
Michaël Ryckelynck
Biologie Digitale de l’ARN, UPR 9002, Architecture et réactivité de l’ARN, IBMC, Strasbourg.
Maurice Nicloux award 2017
Martin PICARD
CNRS UMR 7099, Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-chimique des protéines membranaires, IBPC
Maurice Nicloux award 2016
Apply for the Maurice Nicloux Award
Applications must be submitted by March of each year. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Our scientific awards
“Article of the Month” award
Honors a young researcher for a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dina Surdin award
Rewards a young researcher for an outstanding PhD thesis in biochemistry or molecular biology.
Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
Honors a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to public research, recognized for the significance of her work and her impact in her scientific field.
Maurice Nicloux award
Honors an established researcher for their overall contribution to the scientific community and to research in biochemistry or molecular biology.
